Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is the most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus, which affects about 25 million people in the United States and over 300 million people worldwide. DPN affects the peripheral nerves, mostly in the feet and lower legs. DPN may lead to a loss of sensation that may trigger foot ulcers requiring amputation. DPN may also lead to severe and debilitating neuropathic pain.
Pain due to DPN is called painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN). PDN affects about 50% of people with DPN, and 10-20% of all people with diabetes. PDN is generally treated pharmacologically using drugs that are typically anti-depressants or anti-epileptics. These drugs may be difficult to dose and may have substantial side effects in many people. As a result, people with diabetes and PDN are often undertreated, and as many as 50% of people with PDN may not be receiving any anti-pain therapy. Thus there is a clear need for additional analgesic options for the management of PDN.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) devices apply electrical currents to a particular area of the human body in order to suppress acute and chronic pain. Although not widely used in the management of PDN, recent evidence suggests that TENS should be considered as an adjunctive or primary therapy for patients with PDN.
The most common form of TENS is called conventional TENS. In conventional TENS, electrodes are placed on the skin within, adjacent to, or proximal to, the area of pain. Electrical stimulation is then delivered to the patient through the electrodes, with the electrical stimulation being in the form of low intensity (typically less than 50-60 mA), short duration (typically 50-200 μsec) pulses at frequencies typically between about 10 and 200 Hz.
The physiological principle underlying TENS is that excitation of Aβ sensory nerve fibers, primarily the deep tissue afferents, blocks transmission of pain signals to the brain. The most commonly cited mechanism of action is the “gate theory of pain” originally proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 (Melzack R, Wall PD. Pain mechanisms: a new theory. Science. 1965; 150:971-979). In recent years, the molecular mechanisms underlying TENS analgesia have been investigated. It has been determined that pain signals are blocked by inhibition of nociceptive neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn (DeSantana J M, Walsh D M, Vance C, Rakel B A, Sluka K A. Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of hyperalgesia and pain. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2008; 10(6):492-499). This process is facilitated by descending signals from the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the rostroventral medial medulla (RVM). There is also evidence that pain signals are interrupted in the peripheral nervous system. Sensory afferent stimulation causes release of endogenous opioids that inhibit pain through activation of δ-opioid receptors. These receptors are located throughout the nervous system, including the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Opioid receptors are G-protein coupled receptors whose activation decreases neuronal activity, such as through ion channel regulation Like the morphine sensitive μ-opioid receptor, the δ-opioid receptor induces analgesia, however, the two receptor subtypes have a different neuroanatomical distribution and abuse potential. TENS also increases the extracellular concentration of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and decreases the concentration of the excitatory neurotransmitters glutamate and aspartate in the spinal cord dorsal horn.
In a conventional TENS device, an electrical circuit generates stimulation pulses with specified characteristics. The pulse waveform specifications include intensity (mA), duration (μsec) and shape (typically monophasic or biphasic). The pulse pattern specifications include frequency (Hz) and length of the stimulation session (minutes). One or more pairs of electrodes, placed on the patient's skin, transduce the electrical pulses and thereby stimulate underlying nerves. By varying the intensity of the stimulation pulses and, to a lesser degree, the frequency of the stimulation pulses, the clinical benefit of TENS can be optimized.
There is evidence to suggest that a major barrier to the effective use of TENS therapy is the disproportionate amount of effort needed to regularly apply TENS relative to the amount of pain relief achieved. More particularly, most TENS devices are designed for general purpose use, i.e., to relieve pain originating from various sources and at various anatomical locations. This necessitates a TENS system with multiple discrete components. For example, the TENS electrodes and the TENS stimulator are typically connected to one another through long lead wires that may be difficult for patients to manage, and may cause embarrassment for the patient if externally visible. The electrodes themselves are typically generic in form and function, which places the onus on the patient to position the electrodes in a physiologically and clinically optimal arrangement. Because of these issues, general purpose TENS devices typically require extensive patient training and supervision by medical staff, and even with this training, patients are likely to forget key steps in the proper use of TENS devices. Bastyr et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,759) attempted to overcome some of these limitations by disclosing a stimulator used in conjunction with a support device, such as an orthopedic brace, with the support device providing mechanical and electrical connections between the stimulator and electrodes. Nevertheless, there remains a need for TENS devices that are uniquely designed for specific clinical indications, and which therefore render the use of TENS in those applications straightforward, with minimal if any medical support.
To achieve maximum pain relief (i.e., hypoalgesia), TENS needs to be delivered at an adequate stimulation intensity (Moran F, Leonard T, Hawthorne S, et al. Hypoalgesia in response to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) depends on stimulation intensity. J Pain. 12:929-935). Intensities below the threshold of sensation are not clinically effective. The optimal therapeutic intensity is often described as one that is “strong but not painful”. Most TENS devices rely on the patient to set the stimulation intensity, usually through a manual intensity control consisting of an analog intensity knob or digital intensity control push buttons. In either case, the patient must manually increase the intensity of the stimulation to what they believe to be a therapeutic level. Therefore, a major limitation of current TENS devices is that it may be difficult for many patients to determine an appropriate therapeutic stimulation intensity. As a result, the patients will either require substantial support from medical staff or they may fail to get pain relief due to an inadequate stimulation level. In an attempt to improve the likelihood of delivering an appropriate therapeutic stimulation, some TENS devices allow healthcare professionals to pre-program a target stimulation level. For example, Bartelt et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,929) disclosed a TENS device that gradually and automatically increases stimulation intensity to a programmed target level. However, even when a healthcare professional programs the target stimulation level, that level may not suffice after repeated use of the TENS device due to changes in the patient's pain and physiology. In an attempt to overcome some of these issues and automate stimulation intensity control, King et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,548) proposed a method of regulating stimulation parameters, such as stimulus intensity, based on an electrical impedance signal. However, the clinical usefulness of this method is unclear as the linkage between impedance and therapeutic stimulation intensity is unproven. For the reasons outlined above, current TENS devices suffer from significant limitations with respect to ensuring that the stimulation intensity is within the therapeutic range.
Thus there is a need for a new and improved TENS device which addresses the issues associated with prior art TENS devices.